White Chicken Chili
Chicken, white beans, and green chile in a creamy cumin broth — chili's lighter, sneakier sibling.
Ingredients
- 400 g Chicken
- 2 tin Cannellini beans
- 1 Onion
- 2 Green chili
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 2 tsp Ground cumin
- 700 ml Stock
- 2 tbsp Neutral oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 100 ml Cream (optional)
- 1 Lime (optional)
Method
- Dice the onion into small even pieces.
- Dice the green chiles and set them aside.
- Mince the garlic finely and set it aside.
- In a large pot over medium heat, soften the onion and chiles in the oil until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the chicken, stock, and salt and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- Lift out and shred the chicken with two forks, then return it to the pot.
- Add the drained beans and mash a few against the side of the pot to thicken the broth.
- Simmer 5 more minutes, then stir in the cream off the heat until silky.
- Cut the lime into wedges for serving.
- Serve in bowls with a squeeze of lime over each.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About White Chicken Chili
White Chicken Chili is an American take on chili that swaps the usual tomato-and-beef formula for chicken, white beans, and green chiles, giving it a paler color and a milder, more aromatic profile. It leans on ground cumin and mild green chile heat rather than a heavy chili-powder base, so the flavor is warm and earthy instead of deep and smoky. The broth is enriched with cream and finished with lime, which is the combination that gives this style its signature tang-meets-richness. Shredding the poached chicken back into the pot, rather than browning ground meat, keeps the texture tender and soup-like.
One small technique does most of the work of thickening: mashing a handful of the cannellini beans against the side of the pot releases their starch and gives the broth a creamy, cohesive body without flour or a roux. The result is somewhere between a chili and a hearty soup, cozy and spoonable, with tender chicken, soft beans, and a broth that's both creamy and bright from the lime. It's a natural for cold-weather dinners and casual crowds, and it takes to toppings well, whether that's cilantro, a crumble of tortilla chips, avocado, or a shower of cheese.
White Chicken Chili: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in White Chicken Chili?
A serving has about 620 calories — 36.3g protein, 42.9g carbs, 34g fat, 8.5g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 36.3g of protein, roughly 23% of its calories.
Is White Chicken Chili gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, White Chicken Chili has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
How long does White Chicken Chili take to make?
About 40 minutes start to finish, but only around 26 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make White Chicken Chili?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out cream, lime — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does White Chicken Chili make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.